Pet
by the persuit of shiney things
Summary: Fox-human hybrid Hana, a homeless girl with a fondness for Ian, suddenly becomes an important part of the lives of many popular Gaians. There's something odd-and vital-about Hana's existance and past... OCxOCxIanxSashaxGino Fuller summeray in profile.
1. Prologue: Meeting

Crash

Crash! Slam! Bang! "Oof!" A variety of loud noises came chaotically ringing from Barton Town Store, known to most of us now as Barton Boutique. Of course, this little scene happened before the store was taken over by one Ian and renamed.

The reason for the loud pandemonium was a small group of young children, none older than ten. As the store owner and several customers struggled to catch the little buggers, they were busy dodging and snatching merchandise, pocketing it.

"We got enough!" yelled a young boy, obviously the ringleader. His red eyes darted around the store at the pursuers, and his black hair had gotten a little bit of it torn out by someone's strong grip. "Let's go!"

"Right!" responded all the others, and they bolted after him out the door, closely followed by the store owner. Their ragged clothes were full to burst with stolen accessories and such, all probably destined to be sold for the children's meals. But the store owner did not care about their stomachs: he wanted all his things returned to him; no matter how likely the children were to starve without them.

The ringleader noted that, and made another order when the children reached an intersection: "Split up, and meet up at the base!" Again, the children obliged his command.

The store owner chose to follow the one he was most likely to catch: a little girl without shoes in what appeared to be an old, torn, way-too-big kimono. She had a fox tail and a pair of fox ears sticking out of her red-brown hair. She had split up down a road that happened to be a dead end ally way that had been walled off, and she looked like the thinnest of the bunch: also, she was the only one who had managed to get on her own.

And so it was that, ten minutes later, the little fox girl felt herself being grabbed from behind, preventing her planned attempt to run up the wall and jump over (if anyone could pull off that stunt, it's be a fox). She shrieked in horror and rage. "Lemme go! Lemme go, ya bum! I said lemme go! I'll bite ya! Argh!"

The owner began rooting through her kimono for the stolen merchandise, violating her personal space and instigating major flailing on her part. She shrieked even louder, totally being ignored but refusing to give in and let herself be taken down without a fight.

Suddenly a boy's voice rang out from behind her and the owner. "Hey, Mr. Town Store person! They caught that dark kid that's always leading the thieves a few blocks away!"

"Really?" asked the store owner, not noticing or caring about the fox child's squeal of terror. "I have to go see. Hold this one for me, would you, boy?"

"Sure," answered the boy, coming over and taking hold of her wildly struggling arms. To her surprise, however, as soon as the owner was gone, the boy let go.

"I lied," he told her. "No one caught the other thief boy. Are you okay?"

She stared at him. Blonde hair (possibly dyed: she thought she saw brown roots), large dark eyes, a friendly smile. He wasn't malnourished, like her, and his clothes were good quality: whoever this boy was, he had someone taking care of him other than street urchins or (even worse!) orphanage people.

So why was he smiling at her like she was a real person, and not looking at her ears/tail or clothes and discerning her a homeless freak? Even odder, he had actually helped her escape the evil store person!

"Are you okay?" he asked her again, his smile fading and being replaced with a look of concern. "Did he hurt you?"

"Who are you?" she snarled, backing away. "Why did you help me? What do you want?"

The boy looked insulted by the implication that anything other than the goodness in his heart had inspired his generosity. "I don't want anything! I just thought you looked like you were in trouble, is all!"

"Well, I'm always in trouble! Can't you tell! I'm a urchin! No one helps me unless they want somethin' outta me."

Now the boy looked curious and-dare she think it?-sympathetic. He looked at her in silence for a while, and then tried smiling again. "Well, I don't want anything. What could you have that I'd need, anyway?" (She couldn't deny the logic of that…) He raised his hand to her. "I'm Ian."

"EE-Ahn," the girl repeated, testing the name on her tongue. She examined him a bit less critically. He looked nice enough. It took her a second to understand the gesture, as it was so rarely extended to her. "Oh, a nice intro-duck-chin an' a handshake? Sorry, but I don't do manners." Pause. "But my name's Hana."

"Hana. That's a nice name," Ian told her, lowering his hand. "Anyway, you look hungry. You want some food?"

"I don't need your charity!" Hana said with dignity. Then her stomach growled loudly. She grabbed it, whipping around. "Traitor…" she mumbled.

Ian laughed. "Yes you do! C'mon, we have way too much food in my house anyway."

Hana looked back at him. "I can't go in."

"Why not?"

"I'll probably steal somethin'. 'Sides, I'll get everythin' dirty."

Ian took her into consideration for a second, and then nodded. "Alright, then. You stay here, and I'll be right back with something to eat. And if the store owner shows up and you have to run, just come by here tonight and I'll leave some stuff out back for you. I promise!" Before Hana had the chance to reject the offer, Ian had run off.

"Promise…?" she said to herself, again trying out the word as if by sounding it out she could gather its credibility. She gazed out after Ian with an oddly contemplative look on her thin, dirty face…

…And in present day, a teenage girl with fox ears and a fox tail woke from her memory dream, slowly opening the same blue-green eyes that had stared after Ian, the current proprietor of the Barton Boutique, so long ago. She sat up in her hammock and gazed at a dirty, partially open window not too far from her, in which sunlight was streaming through onto her not-quite-as-thin face.

"Ian…promised."


	2. 1st Text: Visiting

A large group of haggard teenagers and children sat in a vast, earthen room that was once the basement of a large house

A large group of haggard teenagers and children sat in a vast, earthen room that was once the basement of a large house. The house had been abandoned, and was now was the base for most of Barton's urchins. The basement had become their dining room and meeting room, as it was the only room big enough for all of them to fit in at once.

It was breakfast, and so there was the loud chaos of people snitching food, sharing their spoils, arguing over their shares, accusing others of theft, splitting the rations, showing off what had been taken from others, actually eating their meals, and so on. It was all pretty friendly: most of them knew better than to start fights when they all so desperately needed the community provided by their comrades.

One of the nicer looking kids was a teenage fox girl in a kimono that had obviously been 'cleaned' not too long ago: Hana, from the prologue, now about seventeen and a bit less ragged. She had no food, and was sitting in a corner, staring at her lap contemplatively. Her ears twitched every now and then, turning a little as if to catch all the sounds, but the look on her face proved she wasn't really listening.

A piece of bread, probably stolen from some unwitting person's bread drawer, was shoved into her face. She glanced up at the person giving her the treat: the dark, red-eyed boy who we also met in the previous chapter, now almost an adult and quite handsome despite his mismatched clothes and dirty face. His smile was both devilish and kind, and his blood red eyes projected impish curiosity.

"What are you thinking about, Hana?" he inquired.

"Oh, nothing," Hana told him, accepting the food and beginning to nibble at it.

"Liar," he accused, managing to both scowl and grin at the same time. "C'mon, you know I know you better than that. I'm the one who brought you into the gang in the first place. You owe me better than lies."

"Trying to make me guilty, huh?" Hana asked, rolling her eyes. "Really, it's nothing. I just had an interesting dream last night…well, it wasn't really a dream, it was a memory. From when I was little. Nothing important."

"A memory of what?" the dark boy pressed, not looking trusting.

A sigh was the first thing to pass through Hana's lips. Next came "Of when I almost got caught. Remember? When I met…you know."

"He's been your friend ever since."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. You want a medal?" Hana took another bite out of the bread and ignored her friend's piercing glare. She knew what was coming next…

"I don't approve of it," the dark boy told her sternly. "Sure, he's a little more lenient with us because of you, and his food's saved your sorry skin a couple times, but he's not one of us. We can't trust people as well off as him. They always turn on us."

"Gethin, I've told you a billion times, he isn't like that. He's good…he keeps his promises."

"You fancy him."

"What…? 'Fancy?' Who says 'fancy?' Honestly, you talk funny, Gethin."

"Take me seriously."

"Fine. You seriously talk funny."

"Hana!" Gethin stood up. He was tall and lean, and looked quite foreboding. Anyone other than those closest to him would've probably cowered in fear or even whimpered. But Hana was close to him, and so she wasn't afraid. Gethin noticed this, and his face softened slightly. "You watch your back. Hanging around with bigjobs like him will get you nothing but trouble."

Hana has already finished most of the bread. She popped the remaining piece in her mouth, shrugged, and stood up. She was tiny, even taking into account that Gethin was unnaturally tall. And yet, somehow, all it took was a look into his red eyes by her own blue-green ones, and he not only stopped protesting, but moved out of her way, allowing her to pass him. She walked by him without a second glance, and headed upstairs and outside.

She squinted in the bright summer sunlight and stretched, sighing happily. "Time to pay a little visit to Ian. He's coming back to the shop today, after all."

"I'm so glad you're finally back at the shop, Ian!" Sasha told her friend as he happily unlocked the doors to the Barton Boutique. "It's been so long. Things might finally be normal again."

"I sure hope so," Ian agreed, smiling at his beloved. She wasn't the only one there at the unofficial little gathering to celebrate Ian's return, the day after a small party commemorating the same event. Also there stood Moira, Vanessa, Liam, Gino (of course), Edmund, and Rina (although she wasn't aware of the reason for the gathering: she'd just seen a group of people and felt like joining in on the fun). So many friends…Ian felt very grateful.

He opened the door to the shop and would've stepped inside…had not a small figure in an autumn leaf kimono catapulted out the second he opened it, tackling him to the ground.

"Hey, Ian! Good to see you back! Oh, your hair's dark now, it looks great!" said his fox-eared assailant. She was completely unaware of the audience, which was looking on with WTF expressions at that point. All she seemed to see was Ian.

"Ow…Hana?" he asked, pretty stunned from the blow to his head. "How'd you get in there?"

"I'm an urchin. We have our ways," she informed him, grinning. Then she glanced up, only just noticing the onlookers. "Oh. More people. You're popular, huh, Ian?"

"Whatever. Now get off!"

"Hmm?" Hana looked down, discovering that she was indeed sitting on Ian, preventing him from sitting up unless he wanted to push her to the ground. "Oh. Sorry." She stood up and moved so he could get up on his own.

"I don't suppose you're gonna help me up?" Ian asked dryly.

"I've told you a million times, Ian: manners aren't my style."

Ian sighed as he got to his feet on his own. He looked embarrassedly over at his companions, who all seemed pretty confused. "Uh, looks like introductions are in order. Hana, these are some of my friends, mostly other shop keepers…and one who isn't in either group." (Insert glare at Gino here) "Everyone, this is Hana, an old friend of mine, and nothing but trouble."

"And proud of it," Hana said, grinning broadly, showing off her shiny little fangs that were a compliment to the ears and tail. "Nice to meet'cha."

"Nice to meet _you_," Liam said flirtatiously in return, looking over the tiny but also very cute girl before him. "Name's Liam, from Aekea. A pleasure."

"Lay off," Vanessa told him in a warning tone of voice. "Ignore him, he never stops. I'm Vanessa, from Durem. I work at the salon. You might need to go there…"

"Like I can afford it. Sorry, lady, I'm poor as sin. I won't be giving you any business." The rest of the group introduced themselves, and even though they made it a point to avoid suggesting they came to their shops, she still made it a point to remind them she was broke and of no use to them. To Gino, she said nothing, only raised her eyebrows at the rich boy as if to say "Well, what have we here?"

"I suppose I should apologize for messing up this little party or whatever," Hana said to Ian after the introductions were done. "I was just really excited. I can see you whenever I want again now!"

"Wonderful for me…" Ian mumbled, looking away.

"What was that?" asked Hana warningly.

"Oh, nothing!" Ian replied, smiling. The smile instantly smoothed things over: as soon as she saw it, Hana's face regained it's cheerful, friendly (albeit sly) expression. A smile that, somehow, seemed to have been made just for her…

Suddenly, although it was unexplainable, really, Sasha felt a strange enmity toward the little fox girl…why was she so friendly with Ian?

Fortunately for Sasha, the question was asked by the curious Rina: "How'd you meet Ian, anyway?"

Hana glanced down at the little girl with a little smirk: Hana liked cute things, and Rina was very cute. "Oh, he helped me get away from the old owner of this store back when we were kids, before he owned it."

"Why did you have to get away from him?"

"Because I stole some of his stuff. Some of my friends, too." Hana shrugged as though it were the most natural thing in the world for a person and her friends to steal various items from a store.

"You're a thief?!"

"Well, yeah. Most homeless kids are, in Barton and on Isle de Gambino. In Durem and Aekea, they can usually get jobs, but nobody wants us in the nice places, so we have to steal and cheat to get food and clothes. It's a fact of life." She turned to Ian and smiled. "But Ian's been nice to me since the day I met him. Sometimes he'd give me food-I'd probably have starved to death without him, by now-and he'd help me get away from the meaner people I stole from. That's why he's my friend."

"Oh," Rina said, looking like she got most of it. Not necessarily all, but most.

Edmund didn't seem to approve. "So he trusts you even though you're a criminal…admittedly?"

"Yup. Because he's stupid."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but I'm honest. Well, as honest as an urchin can be, anyway. I have my own code of honor. Rule number one is don't betray your friends. For one thing, it's nasty, and for another, you need 'em to survive, when you have pretty much nothing else going for you. Which isn't fun, trust me. And I'm rambling now, so I'll stop," Hana concluded her little tirade with another toothy grin.

"You are a weird little person," Moira commented.

Hana's expression became venomous in an instant. "Who're you callin' _little_?!" she snarled, raising a fist.

"Calm down!" Ian interjected quickly, grabbing her arm. "Moira, Han's a bit…sensitive about her height. Lay off the 'little' comments, okay?"

"Unhand me," Hana told Ian, pulling her arm out of his grip. Sasha noted that her face went a little red in the face at the contact between her and Ian…Again; Sasha felt an unexplained little rush of irritation.

Gino noted Hana's reaction too, but unlike Sasha, it made him rather happy. Ian apparently had another love interest! Perfect! If Ian ended up with this weird Hana person, it greatly increased Gino's chances with Sasha (although they already were better than Ian's, he thought). He made a mental note to try and push Ian closer to this girl whenever the chance arouse.

The conversation would've progressed further, had not Liam spotted a trio of people behind them. On either side stood nondescript dark figures, and in the center…

"Who's that guy with the red eyes?" Liam asked, pointing him out to the others. Upon spotting him, most of the others either flinched at those evil eyes or just looked at him blankly. Only Hana had a different reaction.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "That's Gethin. He's pretty much in charge of us. And he really hates it that I hang around with Ian."

"Why would he hate that?" Moira asked.

"Because Ian's a bigjob-a person who has a pretty high standing in the community, like a shopkeeper or something. Or just a person with a lot of money and a home and job." Hana smiled weakly. "Bigjob is _not _a flattering term at all. In fact, it's practically a swear. But that's all he'll refer to people like you as."

"Why's he here?" Edmund said slowly, sounding suspicious of the dark boy who hated people like himself.

The question was answered when Gethin extended his hand, motioning with two fingers for Hana to go over to him.

She sighed. "He must've actually thought of a reason to keep me away, this time. Sorry, Ian, it looks like I have to go now."

"That's alright," he told her, smiling warmly. "Come by tomorrow."

"Can I filch something when I come?"

"Uh, no," answered Ian, rolling his eyes.

Hana pouted. "Not even something tiny?"

"No."

"Can you get me a sandwich?"

Ian sighed, apparently conceding defeat to his little homeless friend. "Fine, I'll get you a hamburger. Show up at lunchtime."

Hana beamed. "Great! Thanks!" She turned to the others and nodded. "Good to meet y'all." And with that, she turned and ran over to Gethin. He instantly turned her and his cronies around and began to walk away with them in tow. He paused only to glance back and glare evilly at Ian and the others, then take hold of Hana's arm the same place Ian had earlier. She flinched a bit at the contact, but didn't pull away, allowing herself to be pulled away by someone who seemed to be her superior, somehow.

Ian looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, Hana really is a handful. She sorta made things awkward. Surprise, surprise."

"It's alright, any chance to meet a cute girl is fine by me," Liam said, grinning.

"Okay, you leave Hana alone, jerk," Ian warned him. Liam just laughed.

"She was a little…odd," Edmund commented.

"Yeah, but she's been my friend forever. Actually, it's a huge sign of trust on her part that she considers me worth making that guy Gethin mad to talk to me. She's really fond of me…and she does need me a lot more than she'd admit."

"What do you mean, she needs you?" Moira inquired.

"Did you see how thin she was? Usually she's not like that. She probably hasn't had as much food, without me around to give her my leftovers. And the way she treats those, that's something really good, in her eyes. She's got her pride and her other urchins and me…and that's it."

Sasha smiled at Ian, feeling a little more comfortable without the fox girl there. "You're a really good friend, Ian."

"Thanks. Anyway, let's actually go into the shop now that Hana isn't going to barrel me over when we go in…"


	3. 2nd Text: Praying

"Stupid Gethin," Hana muttered to herself, wandering around the edge of Barton Cliffs

"Stupid Gethin," Hana muttered to herself, wandering around the edge of Barton Cliffs. Her ears were drooping gloomily, and her tail continually lashed out to and fro, wildly waving about, then suddenly slumping into motionlessness, only to randomly begin flailing again. As for Hana's thin face, it had a dark expression of annoyance, regret, anger, and sorrow. "He didn't have to say that…"

What he had said to rile her up, immediately after leaving the area of the Barton Boutique, was "Give up on the bigjob. He doesn't care about you as anything more than a pet, a stray picked up off the street, and you know it." And then he hand his companions had simply walked away, knowing that Hana would be too stunned to follow them and too embarrassed to go back to Barton Boutique.

Without anywhere else to go where she was guaranteed solitude, she had ended up heading to Barton Cliffs. Part of this place always made her shiver: it was here that Ian was almost killed by Gino Gambino while the rich boy was in a state of madness, that Johnny Gambino returned essentially from the dead, that an explosion had rocked the earth and caused alien interaction. Generally, it wasn't a happy place. And yet, somehow, Hana loved it at the cliffs, so close to the ocean and always windy.

She sat down on the ground several feet away from the curved edge of the cliffs, as close as she ever wanted to get to the crater that marked the strange happenings the day of Ian's release from the hospital.

It had been hearing about the incident that Gethin had first realized Hana's feelings for Ian, and had suddenly lost any sort of trust in the bigjob. Before, he was willing, although reluctant, to let Hana visit Ian, first at the shop, then at the hospital. The only time he'd ever put his foot down previously about her seeing him was during the trial, mostly due to how public it was, not Ian's involvement.

Then, that evening, during the aftermath of the explosion, when Hana had gone into a near panic over how close Ian had been to death several times over, Gethin seemed to get it. Hana could still see the look on Gethin's face, lit by the screens of the televisions in a shop window (like urchins could get TVs of their own). Confusion. Annoyance. Intrigue. Concern. And then, suddenly, a dawning moment of comprehension. Gethin had looked at the televisions, which were sporting pictures of the witnesses (including Ian), then at Hana, then the televisions again, then back at Hana. Finally, he looked away, and began to shake uncontrollably and gasp as though punched.

In that moment, Gethin realized Hana loved Ian.

And in the same instant, Hana realized Gethin loved her.

And how does one react to that? Hana never got to figure it out. Before she had completely stopped reeling over this new insight, Gethin had turned to her, looking utterly enraged and downright scary. "I never want to hear that stupid, good-for-nothing bigjob's name again!" he snarled, and he stomped away, leaving Hana standing in the road in a state of shock.

For all that she loved Ian and had no feelings beyond respect and friendship for Gethin, Hana had made it a point never to speak Ian's name in front of Gethin again. She had not, however, stopped trying to see Ian whenever possible. Not that it mattered, since not very long after fully recuperating, Ian had mysteriously vanished once again. Only after the strange events of Halloween (Hana had admittedly spent the majority of the weeks around Halloween hiding in her various hideouts, since vampires scared her silly) did Ian finally come back into the light, much to Hana's joy and Gethin's annoyance at best and fury at worse.

As for when Hana herself had first realized she cared about Ian as more than a friend? That had been not too long before Gethin's own realization. It was when Gino Gambino resurfaced that Hana had realized it. Speaking to Ian a few days afterwards, and feeling his anger that Sasha was so incredibly concerned for Gino, it became more obvious than ever that Hana's earlier theories about Ian liking Sasha were more than true. And a thought had passed through her mind:

Keep away from Ian. _I_ want him.

And with that, all her feelings for Ian came to light in her mind, as though a window had been open…but with the clarity came pain, because she was smart enough to know that Ian could never be hers on a vast array of levels. That metaphorical window was like suddenly being able to see, only to discover that the houses next door were all on fire, and yours was inevitably next. Only two choices were left open: run away, leaving behind everything in hope of some new survival or stay where things were going to crash and burn.

The second option left Hana closer to Ian. So here she was, getting Gethin angry at her and humiliating herself in front of bigjobs for the sake of a love that would never be requited.

"This sucks," Hana said loudly to no one, except perhaps the beckoning ocean waves or the looming cliff edge. "This totally sucks."

Now, Gethin had many times denounced Ian and any sort of friendship or loyalty that might be in a relationship with him. But this time, Gethin's words had left a strangely more piercing impact: nothing more than a pet.

In some ways, it was understandable: Ian often fed Hana like one might do for a cat…in fact what Ian _did_ do for his cat. The same went for any clothes he had to offer her, since Ian was considered a little loopy because he had gotten Rufus to wear clothes just like humans do. And she did act like a pet around him, tackling him when he entered doors, begging, playing games, following him from place to place. Not to mention the fact that the fox ears and tail did little to enforce Hana's humanity.

But Hana couldn't, wouldn't accept that. Ian didn't just look at her as an animal. He treated her like he did his other friends, with respect and kindness. He had spilled to her a lot of his anxieties and trusted her. And he had never once treated her like she was in any way beneath him, or like he somehow owned her.

No, Ian didn't see Hana as a pet, of that she was sure.

But still, the truth was (although pride didn't let her easily admit it) that she was just a stray off the street, and he was a bigjob. Hana had her dignity (more like feigned honor, which thieves usually didn't have), her tail and ears, her impish fanged smile, her cunning, her kimono, the other urchins, and Ian, nothing more. Ian had a store, a cat, a multitude of friends, a house, all the food and shelter he needed, real respect, education, and her, the urchin friend. Can you see the 'one of these things is not like the other' element?

Hana looked up at the endless sky above her. This was where heaven was, as far as she knew: she'd never exactly been to Sunday school, but somehow she instinctively assumed that up was where the Good Place was. Not that she was headed there. A foxy little thief like her was probably going down, into the Bad Place. Hana tried not to think about _that._

But Hana's mother had to be in the Good Place. There was no way Hana ever would've accepted her Mom going anywhere else. Not that Hana remembered her mother. But a woman who was willing to sell herself into servitude for the horrible Von Helsons to pay for a daughter and then went insane and killed herself could not possibly be expected to endure eternal torment afterwards.

Because that's what had happened: when Hana, the fox child, was born, with no one to claim being the father, her mother's family had kicked her out. Hana was placed in the care of an old innkeeper who apparently owed Hana's mother a favor, but they then insisted Hana be paid for. Hana's mother hadn't been able to raise enough money to pay the high price demanded, but managed to convince the innkeeper to let Hana stay and pay him bit by bit.

The only job that could pay the requested monthly amount and leave Hana's mother enough money to sustain herself was with the Von Helsons, a job apparently taken on the advice of a friend. Hana never learned what it was her mother had done, but when Hana was seven the payments stopped coming, and word was received that Hana's mother had become so overcome because of the distress of her duties that she had hung herself. And Hana found herself on the streets, where Gethin also found her, and took her into the home with the other homeless kids.

Hana's mother had to be in the Good Place after all that. She just had to be. After all, she reasoned, whatever it was that made the world was good, seeing as it had created things like sugar and fireflies and flowers and stars and puppies laughter and other awesome stuff like that. From what Hana could tell, the majority of the bad things in the world were all the creation of humans, not whatever it was that made the world. And if whatever it was that made the world was good, then it couldn't logically be so cruel as to put a tormented soul into even more torment.

At least, that's how Hana saw it.

"Hey…" she found herself saying to the perfect sky above her. "If you're up there, if you're listening…could you help me? Could you make things better? Please?"

And Hana felt calm, all of a sudden. Not necessarily better, but calm. Which was good enough at the moment. She got up and walked away from the cliff face, headed home.


End file.
